Guerre et Paix
by optimouse
Summary: The Kildare Association ruled the lives of its heroes with an iron fist. Amid personal struggles, Will Stronghold begins to realize the corruption possible within the human soul, yet also the love available. Warren/Will, Josie/Mr. Boy, DivorceFic.
1. Beginnings

"Warren." The voice on the phone was familiar to Warren, the desperation and quivering tone in Will's voice were not. "I, I, can I come over to your house? Spend the night?"

Warren paused. What was going on that Will would make such a request on a school night? The sound of shouting in the distant background seemed to give at least a partial excuse for Will's question.

"Let me ask my parents." Warren covered the phone and left his room, going downstairs to the study where his father was working on his latest scheme. "Dad?" he asked, and Barron looked up, an eyebrow raised. "One of my friends from school is wondering if he can spend the night?"

Barron's eyebrow went up, not in questioning, but in confusion. "What friend?"

"Will, you've never met him." Barron nodded, having noticed that Warren had left out his friend's last name, but deciding not to call his son on it.

"Just don't stay up too late, and introduce him to me." Warren was out the door of his dad's study when his father yelled through. "Oh, what is his power?"

"Will's got superstrength, invulnerability, and flight." Warren yelled back before uncovering the mouthpiece on the telephone. "My parents say yeah, you can come. I'll expect you in about fifteen minutes?" Warren talked to a dial tone as Will hung up. "Huh."

It was fifteen minutes later when Warren heard a gentle knocking on the door, and went to open it. Surprised at the way his friend looked, he simply gestured Will into the house.

"Do you want a towel?" Warren asked, gesturing to the water starting to pool on the floor, and was not surprised when his friend only nodded. "Start getting out of those clothes, I'll bring a towel large enough to preserve your modesty, at least until I can get you into some of my things." He watched as h is usually outgoing friend just nodded and accepted his orders and sighed. "Here, let me take your bags." Warren reached out and took Will's backpack and duffel, slinging them over a shoulder as he walked upstairs.

Will turned around, his fingers going to the ties of the hoodie that had been Warren's gift to him for his birthday. Black with bright red flames racing up the sleeves and stomach, it was one of his favorite pieces of clothing. It went on the tile floor. Off came the sweater underneath, a rather usual mix of blue, red and white, like most of his parent-approved clothing. The t-shirt beneath the sweater was wet enough that it was dripping, and Will was about to pull it off when he heard Warren approaching, and turned to face his friend.

"W..Will?" Warren stuttered, his hand going toward Will's cheek before Will's hand intercepted his, gripping Warren's hand lightly before dropping it. Will took the towel, stripping off the t-shirt with his other hand. "What's on your cheek?" Warren asked.

"Dirt." Was Will's succinct answer, as he unbuttoned the jeans. They fell to the floor, muddy water pooling around them as Will cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at Warren, who turned around to let Will change. He heard the slight swish of the boxers coming off and falling to the floor, and Will pulling the towel tight around his waist. Warren turned around, bending down to pick up the wet clothes. His eyes traced over the familiar form of his best friend, logging each deviation from their normality. Only one was really noticeable, a large bruise that seemed to cover Will's left side.

"Where did you get the bruise?" Warren asked, nodding to it. Will laughed, which surprised Warren, and explained.

"Save the Citizen, yesterday. You were flaming the other team, I was in the way, you melted my armor and gym clothes off? I'm not invulnerable, not completely. The bruise will go away." Warren raised an eyebrow as he walked over to the clothes' chute that went from the entrance hall to the laundry room in the basement of the house.

Warren couldn't help but shiver in appreciation of Will, he knew how hot the flame that he had thrown was, and yet Will had not moved an inch as the fire poured around him. They'd done the maneuver before, yesterday had not been unusual in any way.

"Will?" Will turned to Warren and knew what his friend was about to ask.

"I'll explain soon." Will said softly. "My Father and Mother, they don't know yet." Warren's eyebrow shot up, surprised. Since when did the Strongholds not talk to each other?

"I need to introduce you to my father." Warren swiftly changed the subject, still not sure why Will would purposely hide something from his parents. Walking down the hall towards his father's study, he pulled Will with him.

Stopping outside the study door, Warren knocked, and waited for an acknowledgement before entering with Will.

"Dad, I'd like you to meet my friend Will. Will, my father." Will looked rather shy, and ducked his head, something that Warren hadn't seen him do in awhile.

"Will, it's a pleasure to meet you." Barron said, reaching out a hand to shake the hand that Will must've subconsciously extended, because Will didn't remember offering it. "Any relation to Josie Devrey?" Barron asked, remembering the girl with the gift of flight from high school.

"Aye, she' s my Mom." Will said. He didn't offer anything else, and Barron set out to find out more.

"And who is your father?" Barron asked. Warren winced, and Will hid a flinch.

"Steve Stronghold." Barron watched the boy withdraw, prepared to be booted out, to be yelled at, insulted, hurt, and then he watched his son snake an arm around Will's drooping shoulders. Barron made a decision.

"Your mother is one hell of a woman." He said, grinning. "Once stood up to me in Save The Citizen, playing singles. What are your powers?" Will began to relax noticeably, and Barron realized that the 'relaxation' was only in form, not entirely in mind.

"Flight, the super-strength/invulnerability combination." Will said ironically. "Supposedly, I take after my father more, but he disagrees. Takes me too long to want to fight for him." Warren raised an eyebrow at Will's offhanded comment about his own father.

"Why would he disagree?" Barron asked, noticing his son's interest in the statement. "Are you not his son, should he not be proud of you no matter what?"

"Theoretically." Will said, and Warren bit back a gasp at the latent hostility in his voice. Will was known for not being hostile, even to those who hurt him deeply.

Flashback+

Will hadn't been having the best of days, arguing with his father over not wanting to spend the summer at the fight-training part of Sky High's annual summer camp. The argument had culminated in hurled insults, with those his father yelled most stinging.

" Dad, I don't want to fight with brute strength! I want to understand why someone hits in a certain place!" An excuse, obviously not the truth. "I learn about brute force in gym, I need to study math to pass next year!" Will had known immediately that he had crossed a line with the last part of his remark.

"TOO DAMN BAD! Maybe if you do this, you'll be good enough that I'LL BE FUCKING PROUD OF YOU!" Steve's face was bright red with anger. "I SOMETIMES WONDER IF MY REAL SON WAS SWITCHED WITH YOU LITTLE FREAK AT BIRTH!"

Will had signed up for fight-training. He came within one point of failing math.

End Flashback+

"How old are you?" Barron asked, deciding not to push too hard into the matter- the dark look passing through Will's eyes reminded him of himself at that age. His father had wanted so much from him- so much that Barron had landed in jail. What would this boy do to please his father's over-expectations? What had he already done?

"Ahh, I'm sixteen. Junior." Will seemed to smile the innocent, 'I'm a happy camper' smile, and Barron knew the kid had too much practice hiding emotions, and he worried for the kid.

"Anyway, don't stay up too late, and come downstairs for breakfast tomorrow morning." Barron warned the two, watching them go up to bed.

"Will, what's wrong?" Warren asked, watching his friend pull on his pajamas. It had taken Will nearly double the time tonight to get ready for bed.

Will just nodded slightly, slipping his legs underneath the sheet and comforter of the double bed that they shared, that was Warren's usually.

"My powers are changing." Will said. "Nurse Spex first spotted it a few months ago, during a routine check-up after a training mission. My healing time was down. We've begun charting my strength, and it is also down. It has been decreasing rapidly." Warren slipped under the covers on the other side of the bed, dressed in black boxers and black tanktop. He scooted so he could see Will's eyes, weary with the weight of the Stronghold legacy. "I've begun what is called Hormone Based Power Shift, or 'power puberty' for short. There are documented cases of the powered going through the Shift, and not having powers, or coming out with amazing powers. Basically, it is one's true powers coming to the fore, if they did not originally come out as they were supposed to." Will looked downcast. Warren knew that it had something to do with his father.

"Will, you know you can come here if you need help, right?"

"Yeah, I know, _Guerre_." 1

1 _Guerre_ is French for war


	2. A Fight, then Sanctuary

It was the third time that week that the yelling had gotten loud enough that Will could hear it, with his music on high. The shouts resounding from the downstairs of the house came from his parents, arguing over something.

"No more after parties with the Geminis!" Josie yelled at Steve, her voice loud and annoyed. "They can't keep their hands off of you!"

"And what if I like them on me?" Steve yelled back at his wife, sounding very pissed. " You just don't do anything to me anymore! You're a frigid bitch!"

Will sighed, right in about ten seconds- five, four, three, two…

_SLAP_ "And, you are not very much to look at you know." _SLAM_ That had to be the front door, and the heavy footsteps on the stairs would be his father. His mom must've left, to go cool down. And his father was furious, with him as well. Nurse Spex had finally told Steve Stronghold about his son.

Warren woke up from a deep sleep to the sound of someone knocking on his window. His eye s darted out the window to see Will floating right outside, looking rather unhappy—and bruised.

Warren hurried to the window, opening it and helping Will through.

"Can I stay here for awhile?" Will asked. "I don't know when my mom's coming back, and Dad's furious."

"What happened?" Warren traced Will's face with his eyes, it had been awhile since his friend had spent the night, and Will had always called first. Will, usually brought a bag as well. He moved to his dresser, pulling out boxers and a t-shirt. He gave them to Will. "Change into those, then get into bed and explain." He went to the window, closing it as Will went into the bathroom to change.

Warren walked back to the bed, fluffing up a second pillow for his friend before sliding into his usual side of the bed. A thought sent a flame to the candle that he had next to the door into the bathroom, and he turned off the lights that had lit at his rising from bed. He watched carefully as the light shifted in the bathroom, then turned off. The candle was the only light as Will slipped into the bed, next to him.

"Well, what happened?" Warren asked, when it seemed apparent that Will wasn't going to talk about what was going on at his house.

"Mom and Dad went to an after party- with the Gemini Twins." Warren leaned closer to Will, whose voice had started to choke up. "When they got home, Dad read the note that I left out for him, from Nurse Spex, about my transfer into Healer courses, instead of Hero. Dad read about the changes, he drank a little. He picked an argument with Mom. They yelled, loud enough that I couldn't drown them out with Death Metal. Mom left. Dad drank some more. We argued, no, he yelled, I listened and snarked him. I left." Tears began to run down Will's face, and the younger teen relaxed the muscles in his face to allow the tears to flow with out pain. He'd learnt enough from meditation to actually do the relaxation- there was a flaw, he could only meditate or relax when he felt completely safe.

Warren felt Will's shoulders shake, and moved closer, gathering the smaller teen to his chest and rocking him back and forth, a broad hand moving up and down Will's back. The rocking was a tried and true way of calming the younger boy down, Layla had told him how to when it became evident to her that Warren was quickly becoming close to her former boyfriend. The tears soaked through Warren's shirt, hot and wet tears that seemed to have no intention of slowing down.

Warren mulled Will's words over, noting that there was a large amount of time left unspoken of. Slowly rocking the teen back and forth, he murmured words of reassurance, making sure that Will was lulled to sleep. Once the younger boy was asleep, he lay the boy down, tucking the covers around him, before going downstairs.

Barron looked up to see Warren in the doorway to his study, a worried expression on his face.

"What's wrong, Warren?" He asked, watching the young man shift his weight, his eyes boring at him.

"Will came over, about half an hour ago. He's in my room, asleep now." Barron lifted an eyebrow, not quite understanding. "Will and his father had an argument, Will left, flew here. I was wondering if you could get a hold of his mom, tell her where he is."

"What happened to Will?" Barron asked, he'd grown to like Warren's best friend, whose shyness and willingness to heal physical wounds.

"I'm not sure, as Will didn't tell me everything." Warren remembered the tears, "I'm scared for him. He was crying, couldn't seem to stop." Warren paused, saddened. "I've never seen him like this before. He doesn't cry, according to Layla, unless something happens. She said that the last time was before he came to Sky High, when his brother left."

"I remember what happened." Barron told Warren, whose eyes lit up. "Roger Stronghold was the golden child of the hero community. Played football, dated the cheerleaders, went villain-hunting with his parents. One night, the Commander walks in on Roger with his date- one of the male cheerleaders. Throws a fit, spouts Biblical nonsense, disowns Roger. Hasn't spoken of him since." Barron frowns angrily. "Moron."

"Well, I have to get back upstairs." Warren said to his father, remembering how Will hadn't wanted to let go. "Night."

"Night."

Warren walked back up to his room, and slid into bed next to Will. Just as he was about to drift off, he felt Will curl up into his chest, and pull one of Warren's arms over his shoulder.

"Night-night, _mon guerre_." Warren smiled before replying to Will, and pressing a kiss to the younger boy's forehead.

"Sleep well, _mon paix._" 1

1 _mon paix_ – French for 'my peace'


	3. About Roger, And the Paper Lantern

"Josie?" Josie Stronghold, on his doorstep, that wasn't something that he'd expected to see. "What are you doing here?"

"Logan." He could but watch her face, the semi-familiar lines of her jaw shadowed in the strobe light outside his porch. "We need to talk." Wordlessly, Logan opened the door, ushering her in.

"Where is Steve?" Logan asked, leading Josie to the couch in the living room. "Did something happen between you two?" Josie ignored the question, sitting down on the couch, and pulling on Logan's elbow to have him sit beside her. He sat, not wholly willing to be there.

"Remember that night we spent together?" Josie questioned. Logan nodded, yes he remembered- she had married Steve the next day. "I have two sons. Roger is the elder, born nine months to the date after I married Steve. When he was eight, he started showing signs of increased healing. Agility came when he hit ten, and at twelve, his senses were on par with yours. He has three bone claws that protrude from the knuckles of each hand." Logan tried to digest it, and Josie concatenated the information. "Roger is not Steve's son. He's"

"He's mine, isn't he?" Josie just nodded to Logan's accurate question-type statement.

"That he is. Fifty percent pure Howlett Hellraiser. Fifty percent Devrey Determination. And, according to Will, the big brother from Hell."

"Will?" Logan asked.

"Will." Josie answered. "My second son, Steve's son. I don't know whom he resembles, certainly not Steve. Will's quiet, I suppose you could say. Loyal. He has two best friends, Layla Doolittle, and Warren Peace. Attends Sky High."

"Why not Xavier's?" Logan asked, and it looked like Josie was going to reply when a cell phone went off on her waist. She detached it, flipped it open, and her voice changed to suit her garb.

"Jetstream. What's the sitch?" Her face turned pallid. "Barron, how did you get this number?" Her voice began to shake. "Why did you hack Sky High records?" Her eyes panicked. "I'll be there in ten minutes. Is he okay?" She paused, gripping the phone tightly, then her grip relaxed. "I'll be bringing Logan Howlett with me, Barron. Keep Will safe, please." She slowly closed the phone.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked Josie, who was placing her phone back on her belt.

"Will left the house, flew to Warren's house. Warren asked his dad, Barron Battle to call me."

A long way away- A.K.A. California

"Roger, get your ass off that ladder this instant!" The voice that floated up to Roger was angry, well on its way to being pissed. The person who used it was obviously unhappy at Roger, with an apron wrapped around his torso. "Dinner is in fifteen minutes, and you aren't coming into this house covered in filth from roofing."

"But Jared!" Roger squirmed, but started to come down the ladder. To anger his half-alien lover was not something that he wished to have on his agenda for today. "I'll just shower, then be in the kitchen for dinner."

"Alright. Just remember, my grandparents are supposed to be here in ten minutes. Both GranDad and Grandfather." Roger's jaw dropped at this new revelation from his lover.

"Lex and Clark are going to be here? Ten minutes?" Jared laughed as Roger ran into the bathroom to shower.

Back on the outskirts of Maxville

"Where is he?" Barron shrunk back from the questing finger of Josie, and turned to walk up the stairs. "Where is my Will?"

Upstairs and down the hall, Barron managed the halls of the mansion carefully before he reached his son's bedroom. He knocked lightly on the door before sticking his head in. he soon motioned for Josie and the silent Logan to follow him in.

"Your younger son." Barron sent a tiny spark to the candle by the bed. Before it reached the candle, the wick lit into flames.

"Be more quiet, Will's asleep." Josie saw the boy sitting up in bed, the curled form of her son at his side and on his stomach. "I don't want to get him back to sleep again."

"Warren, what did he say?" She questioned, going to sit on the side of the bed, thread her fingers through Will's hair. A flicker of the candlelight brought into sharp contrast the pale of Will's skin and the dark of the bruise on his cheekbone. Her fingertip traced the edge of the bruise, and her eyes darkened in anger. "Nevermind that," She said before Warren could answer. "Could you tell the teachers tomorrow that Will may not be in school until next Monday. If they ask why, don't answer."

California, two days later

Jared stumbled down the hallway to the front door. It was seven in the morning, who on earth would be ringing the doorbell. Opening the door, Jared looked out with bleary eyes, seeing a silver rental sedan and a tall woman, buxom, with curling brown hair that poured over her shoulders.

"Whatever you're selling, we don't want it." Jared said, closing the door. Quick as can be, the woman's foot flashed out, sliding in between the door and the doorframe.

"Does Roger Stronghold live here?" She asked. Jared nodded numbly. "Would you please tell him that his mother and brother are here." Jared's eyes opened wide, and he scuttled back in the house, into the master bedroom.

"Roger, you mother's here!" Roger raised an eyebrow, then slid out from underneath the covers, pulling on jeans over his boxers. "She's outside!"

"Calm down Jared, it may not necessarily be my mother." Roger said as he went down the hallway towards the door. He opened it fully, and his jaw dropped. "Mom?"

"Yes Roger, it is your mother." Josie said with a hint of sarcasm. "Now could you help me get your brother out of the car? He only just got to sleep, and I don't want to wake him up."

"Will's here?" In response, his mother jerked her head towards the car.

"And as lonely as hell. He misses Layla and Warren." Josie tried to convey a certain emphasis on the second name. She didn't think her son understood the emphasis on the second name, so she pointed it out. "Especially Warren."

"Warren?" Roger questioned as he followed her to the car, kneeling at the passenger side door as she opened it. His little brother tumbled into his arms- it appeared that he had been leaning against the door in his sleep. Roger rose to his feet, carrying his brother bridal-style back into the house. "Will didn't have any friends named Warren before Dad kicked me out."

"Warren is Warren Peace, son of Barron Battle and Gloria Peace. Will met Warren at Sky High, and they've been the best of friends since Warren helped Will defeat Royal Pain. I've never seen such a close bond from your brother."

"What are you intimating?" Roger asked as he deposited his brother on the couch. "You think something about Will, don't you?"

"I think that the fact that my younger son will stand straight and tall, not wincing as thousand degree fires surround his body for more than ten minutes tells something about him." She looked grim. "He started going through power puberty about six months ago. This incident took place nearly two months ago." Her eyes darkened in anger or sadness, Roger couldn't define which. "He told Warren he was going through power puberty two months before his father and I found out."

At Sky High

"What's wrong?" Nurse Spex asked Warren, who was sitting on the bed in her examining room. It was the third time this week that Warren had landed in her clutches- this time he'd been sent by Coach Boomer- Warren'd tenderized his knuckles to meat against one of the most dangerous simulations that gym class had to offer. "You keep on landing in here, I'm going to have to ban you from Gym Class."

"Will." Warren answered gruffly, and Spex sighed, removed her glasses, and sat down next to him. "The night before he left, he came out to my place, spent the night. As he lay there, I had a revelation."

Beginning Flashback+

Will's chest rose and fell with rhythmic continuance, his head pillowing itself on Warren's stomach, his breath misting on the soft hairs leading down into Warren's boxers. Warren squirmed, trying to move Will away from where he could feel the rising part of Warren at every breath and the warmth of Will's hair.

Will shifted, curling more into a ball, less sprawled across Warren. "Donnae worry, _mon guerre_, I'll be here for ye." He said in his sleep, and Warren knew then.

"I'll protect you then, Will." And Warren knew he loved his best friend. Knew it instinctively.

End Flashback+

"I love him." Warren said quietly, and Nurse Spex patted him on the arm. "With all my heart."

"Your not the only person who does." Nurse Spex said carefully. "I love him like a son. Layla loves him like a brother."

A few days later

Warren was working the evening shift- that was what went through Will's mind as he padded through the doors into the Red Lantern. His feet traced a familiar path until he found the table where his friends were. He slipped into the booth next to Layla and brought a finger to his lips. It was a few minutes until Warren arrived at the booth, tray in hand, only to be tackled by the form of his best friend.

"Will? You're back?" Warren asked, then crushed his friend in a hug. "You're back!"

"Aye, I'm back." Will answered, returning Warren's hug with one of his own. "For awhile, at least. I should be here until December." It was already halfway through November.

The next day, at Sky High, in the cafeteria

"So why are you leaving at the beginning of December?" Layla asked Will, her eyes questioning Will as he leaned against Warren. "You only just left for a week."

"Have you heard about what has been happening on Teroda Station?" At the nods around the table, Will continued. "The precognitive subdivision has been receiving serious warnings about the situation. In response to the warnings, the Kildare Association has begun the process of putting together a taskforce to deal with the possibility of the Teroda Station division going rogue, or the riots causing casualties. Kildare contacted me with a request to join the healer group with the taskforce. I leave at the beginning of December for training. The taskforce will be shipped out on the fifteenth." Warren went drawn with terror. Teroda Station contained the largest prison of dangerous villains on planet or off.

"When are you expected back?" Layla asked the question, and Warren agreed with its asking. Will hesitated to answer it though.

"At the earliest, right before Christmas." Will said, but his expression said differently. "More likely is by the second week in January."

"Who else is on the taskforce?" Warren asked. He wanted to know so he knew who would be protecting the teen he loved.

"Every spare hero and sidekick available." Will said wryly. "They pulled Superman out of retirement, all of his bloodline that went into the hero business is on the taskforce. Uhm, Hurricane, Sparks, Gear, Static Shock, and Mirage. Neither of my parents, Wolverine, Shadowcat, Rogue, Gambit, Sabertooth, Enigma, Coyote. There're more that I don't know."

"Isn't Coyote your older brother?" Magenta asked, and Will grinned.

"Yeah, he is. Actually, my half-brother, he's my mom and Wolverine's son, but yeah, he's my big brother." Warren knew then, that he would never ask the question if he did not ask it now.

"Will, before you go, would you have dinner with me?"

"Like, on a date?" Will replied, his cheeks flushing pink. Warren thought that the flush was, no, no he couldn't think it was adorable- that was the antithesis of his reputation. Alright, Will blushing looked adorable. He thought it and then his thoughts were interrupted. "Yes. I would."


	4. Thanksgiving and A Call to Arms

The beeper that Will had been given by the Kildare Association went off during the Thanksgiving dinner he was at, the one hosted by Layla's mother. He would have gone to the one his mother was hosting later that evening, then spent the night with Warren, but the beeper told him that there would be no chance of that. He stood, silently asking to go the phone. Sharon Doolittle nodded, and Will called the Kildare association.

"I'll be there in thirty minutes." He ended the conversation with, before walking back into the dining room. "Sharon, I'm sorry, I won't be able to stay for the rest of dinner." He bent to hug Layla tightly, then Magenta, Zach, and Ethan. Warren came behind him as he rose, pulling Will in tightly against his chest. "I'm going to miss you." Will murmured.

"You've been called up?" Sharon asked, and inside Warren's arms, Will nodded vigorously.

"The situation on Teroda Station has exploded. I'm to report to Maxville Transport Station in twenty seven minutes." Will's voice sounded ragged, and teary, but the group ignored it as Will rose up on tiptoes, pressing his lips to Warren's with a tinge of desperation. "_Je t'aime, mon guerre. Avec tout mon coeur, je suis tienne." _Warren knew just enough French to translate what his beloved had said, and knew that the use of French was instinctive. Will had learnt French as his first language from his mother, and only when he was five, learnt English.

"And I, you." Warren answered, his voice going husky before pressing their lips back together.

"Remy LeBeau." The tall man strapped into the seat beside Will offered Will a hand. "Gambit." From Will's other side a woman with white streaked hair, wearing a tight spandex outfit offered her hand after Will shook Gambit's hand.

"Rogue. And you are?"

"Will Stronghold. _Sans_ a callsign or codename or alias." Will said, a blush staining his cheeks. From across the shuttle, Wolverine waved.

"Hey kid!" Wolverine looked rather happy. "Does your mom know about the person your dating?" He grinned mischeviously. "A Battle and a Stronghold! Such a couple."

"Logan, you know very well my mother knows that I'm dating Warren. And Warren goes by the his mom's surname."

"But what about your da?" Logan asked, and Will grimaced.

"Steve Stronghold has yet to apologize- or get out of alcohol rehab."

"How did he get hooked?" Wolverine had to ask, his curiosity overwhelming his tact.

"The Lewiston Affair. Sandria Lewiston, also known as Drama Queen was his first wife. Having to put her away drove him to drink, after all, he had loved her very dearly." Will replied. "Anyway, I visited him at rehab a few days ago, he's getting out soon, as he's really shaping up."

"Has he apologized?" Wolverine knew that asking this was rude, but was willing to risk it.

"Yeah. It isn't going to patch up his marriage with my mom. They are getting divorced, and the team is breaking up. My mom accepted a date offer from All-American Boy. I've had him as a teacher, homeroom, at Sky High. He's cool."

"I think I've met him." Gambit said, remembering the blue-eyed sidekick. "He's very _helpful_."


	5. In Flight to Teroda

Teroda Station wasn't exactly the traditional space station. In a permanent geosynchronous orbit over Jupiter's moon of Callisto, the plasti-crystal dome that covered the oval of the drift, or rather, the two layers of platform. Nearly 3 miles long, a mile inside the Teroda prison itself, it was famous for three things.

In 1956, Lars Teroda was stationed on Deep Space Three, a mile long outpost that orbited where Teroda was now, the furthest from earth that an outpost was in the solar system. He was a captain in the Long Patrol, that branch of the Heroes League that patrolled the outer reaches of the solar system to protect them from invaders, and to learn more about the solar system in which they lived. They are, a mostly autonomous branch of the League, one of the few that accepts all types of applicants, powered or non-powered alike.

The thoughts ran through Will's mind as he sat on the transport ship from Luna Base II to Callisto. He was vaguely related to Lars Teroda, Lars' sister had married his mother's uncle. He knew this story as well as he knew any. Lars Teroda had held the line based at Callisto for three months, holding back the advance of a legion of invaders until more forces could be rallied to drive out the invaders, or rather, to convince them to sit down for peace talks, on Deep Space Three. Now, Deep Space Three was the site of Teroda Station, comprised of two layers, the two docks underneath, and the flat of the drift herself. It was sectioned off: nearly a square mile was the Teroda Rehabilitation Center. The other two miles was a small town, home to the command centre of the Long Patrol, where all patrols left from and returned to, a small weapons depot, a commercial centre, a botanical garden, and a hospital. There were three formal barracks, two for the Long Patrol, but part of the civilian housing wasn't just the civilians that helped keep the station ticking over, but spouses to the guards at the prison, and spouses to the Long Patrol. There were children and a small school as well. Teroda was a home, for all intents and purposes.

"What are you thinking about, kid?" Wolverine asked, and Will turned to face him, to try and express what he knew.

"Teroda. The history, the reasons behind what they're calling a revolt."

"You disagree?"

"I'd say that for someplace called a rehabilitation centre that the prison doesn't necessarily give up its inmates when it's supposed to. I'd say that the civilians have little status under Kildare Association bylaws, which is how the station is run. I'd say that for the fact that the Long Patrol is supposed to be autonomous, the Association controls it rather much." Will stated, and eyebrows around him rose. "I'm fifth gen hero on both sides." Will explained. "Three members of the long patrol within two degrees of relationship. I'm a Healer." And that was a good explanation.

"Three members of the Long Patrol," Wolverine tried to make sense of it. "and you're a Healer. They've still got the restrictions on Healers, don't they?"

"I have to produce at least one child, for example. I'm not allowed in most warzones without specific permission from the Association. They've given me a list of three acceptable post-graduation universities at which to train as a Healer, I may submit others, to see if they'd be acceptable, but there's a 1 in 50 chance that they'd accept. They own me." There was an echo from the other Healer aboard ship.

"I wanted to go to the Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, so I submitted it to the Association." Deva began. "They not only refused, but took the East Coast option off of my list, because it had an optional rotation at PPTH." Will nodded. "Teroda is a boiling pot of emotion at the best of times. It's a prison, an ambassadorial center, and one of the stations of last resort for those that the Kildare association wants gone. They have to keep a detachment on duty there to keep it under control."

"What do you want to do, kid?" Wolverine asked. He'd met the kid twice, the brother of his only son.

"I want to Heal, but my gift is in micro kinetics, truly. I can manipulate very small things. I like healing, which is an extension of my gift, but what I want to do is surgery."

"You want to go to Seattle Grace, do the internship and residency there." Deva understood. "And they aren't accredited by the Kildare Association."

"They are by the JLA." The Justice League had once been the primary heroics league, but had been supplanted, and eventually legislated against by the KA. He could be ordered shunned if he joined them, which he had considered.

The transport became quiet as the announcer came on.

"We are now approaching Teroda Station. Only accept information from uniformed Kildare Association employees. We will be entering the docks in 6 minutes, be prepared for disembarkation."


	6. On Teroda, Snippets

"Dammit!" Will cursed, his ward was full, and he had four more patients on their way in. His partner looked over at him, their eyes sharing the same despair. The three hospitals on Teroda Station were over filled, and often fought over by the various prisoner factions against the Kildare Association.

Teroda Rehabilitation Station had erupted, the prisoners working in concert to overthrow the guards before the Kildare Association had arrived. Once Kildare had arrived, the situation had worsened. Few civilians were left alive, and the Kildare Association desperately tried to subdue the violence between prisoner factions and keep control of all ships within the Association's hands.

The Association was winning.

Barely.

"Healer?" Will walked over to the little girl who was lying down on a bed under one of the few windows in the ward. The window looked out on what had been the hospital gardens. The trees were dieing, the grass was brown, the flowers were dead, wilted on the ground. The girl clutched a tulip, a crystal tulip, in her hand. "I could give up my bed. I don't need it."

Will smiled at the girl, Geena

_"Petite_ _fleur_, I happily acknowledge your offer. _Mais non_, you are still very ill. The surgery Doctor Toro did on your stomach makes it impossible for me to accept your offer. We will think of other ways to house these new injuries."

The stench of injury was in the air, and Will fought his way to the place where heroes were being dragged, injured, from the fight. The heroes had ambushed a group of former inmates, only to find that they were greatly outmatched. The fight had been going badly when he was sent to heal.

"Who are you?" The man had deep black eyes, almost the color of Warren's, with hair streaked with red. All Will could do was blink, his body exhausted from healing for the villains that had kidnapped him. "Do I have to ask again?" Will saw the man raise a fist encircled with flames and winced, choking out the words.

"Guillame Devrey Stronghold." The man looked startled, and his flames died back down.

"Your father put me up here." Will blinked, pieces sliding into place. He knew who this was.

"So you're Byron Battle?" Will knew who this villain was; he was Warren's uncle on his dad's side. "Pleasure to meet you. I've met your nephew at Sky High, great guy. I understand where he got the hair."

"You like Warren?" The villain was confused. Wasn't this the Commander's kid?

"I'd be dating him right now if I wasn't up here, and he wasn't on Earth." Byron blinked, considering.

"How about I escort you to a hospital and take off for parts unknown. Warren'd yell at me if you got injured." Will tried not to roll his eyes. He'd been passed between the villain groups for the last two weeks as barter goods, a strong Healer/empathy, and he was already injured.

"Hey Wolvie." Wolverine was riding back to Earth on a medical transport, and he looked over at the other passenger, assessing.

"Kid, what are you going home for?" He asked, and the boy looked down at the bottom of the plane.

"My tour is up. As a Healer, I get two month tours, then shipped down for at least a month of R&R in any type of war situation. You've probably heard of high burn out rates in Healers, right?"

"Yeah."

Warren picked up the phone after it finished ringing, his eyes going wide at the sound of the voice on the other end.

"_Mon guerre_, I'm back." Warren tried not to say 'so late? You were supposed to be back weeks ago.'

"Where are you?" He asked, concerned.

"At the bus station. Mom's still up on Teroda, so I'm without ride, and I'm too exhausted to make it home."

Warren pulled up to the bus stop, seeing a little pile of blankets in a corner with tufts of Will's hair on top, so he parked the car and walked over.

"_Mon paix_. Wake up, Will." Will's eyes drifted open, and Warren smiled, scooping the smaller boy up in his arms, carrying him out to the car and settling him into the passenger seat."


	7. sapphires and rubies & diamonds, oh my

"Will, what are you doing tonight?" It was Warren on the phone, calling Will, who was alone in his house.

"Um, I was going to stay home, do homework, surf the web. Why?"

"My Aunt called, told me that the Paper Lantern was closing down for a few days for an exterminator. Apparently, the Lantern has mice. I've got the night free, and I was wondering if you would want to go out to eat with me at Côte d'Azur. I've heard that the food is exceptional."

"And the restaurant is Provençal. Father took my Mother there for their fourteenth anniversary. Mother loved the food, and raved about the fish." Will realized that he wasn't answering the question, and diverted, going back to where he was supposed to be in the conversation. "Of course I'd like to go. What time?"

"Probably around six. I need to get reservations." Warren answered. "I'll pick you up at 6:30." Warren hung up, and Will dialed Layla.

"Layla!"

"Will." Layla answered grumpily. She'd been doing mathematics, and she realized that she hated it. "What is it?"

"Warren's taking me to Côte d'Azur for dinner. I have nothing to wear!" He ended sounding terrified, and Layla sighed.

"Will. I'll be there in ten minutes. Meanwhile, get out your collared shirts, and dress pants. Then go in you parents' room, your dad's closet, pull out his."

"Will." Warren's eyebrows had risen half an inch when Will opened the door. Will was in tight black dress pants, black boots laced up his calves, and a black velvet jacket buttoned over a deep blue silk dress shirt. But the real surprise was his hair. Will's hair had been spiked, blue and glitter sprayed on it, with black eyeliner outlining Will's eyes. "Since when?" Warren gestured at the hair, and Will blushed.

"I called Layla for some advice. Next thing I know, she's ruffling through my dad's and my clothes, and telling me to try things on. She even went through the attic through some of my dad's old clothes from high school. Dad wore this jacket to Homecoming his freshman year, before he grew."

"Ah."

"It's beautiful." The ring was gorgeous, tiny sapphires surrounding a single opal.

"I would have bought you a diamond, but I didn't think that was either of us wanted. Diamonds are ever-changing, but sapphires and opals stay the same, like my love for you."

"Are you asking me?" Will looked down at Warren, kneeling on his knees in front of him. They'd had dinner, then Warren had driven them to a park that they both liked. They'd walked together for a bit, then had found a park bench, and Warren had gone to his knees.

"Will, would you commit with me, after high school?" Warren asked.

"Yes."


End file.
